Mentioned in this article
- ProSiebenSat.1 Media subsidiary 7Sports announced the acquisition of eSports.com platform parent eSports GSA. Financial details were not disclosed.
- The acquisition follows the insolvency of 7Sports’ previous eSports GSA joint venture partner and eSports.com founder, eSports.com AG.
- 7Sports is planning to launch its own esports leagues and tournaments in collaboration with strategic partners.
Yesterday, the German mass media company ProSiebenSat.1 Media announced the acquisition of news platform esports.com via its subsidiary 7Sports. Following the insolvency of its previous eSports GSA GmbH joint partner, eSports.com AG; 7Sports increased its stake in eSports GSA from 50% to 100%. While financial details of the transaction were not disclosed, 7Sports noted that the esports.com brand and domain are now wholly owned by it.
“We already have proven that we can take niche sports and make them popular in Germany with the NFL. Now we’re taking the same approach with esports. The first step consists of explaining the new trend sport to the audience,” said Stefan Zant, CEO of 7Sports and eSports GSA in a release. “We offer live broadcasts; show highlights of key scenes; and analyze gameplay, tactics, and strategy with our experts – an approach known from big sports. Owning 100% of eSports.com is a strong starting point for further growth in both the German-speaking and international market.”
The acquisition marks the international expansion of 7Sports, which hitherto focused on the German-speaking markets in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
7Sports entered the esports market in 2016 and built a portfolio including live broadcasts of international tournaments, a weekly highlights format on the tv channel ProSieben MAXX, a digital offering, as well as management services for athletes and teams throughout the following years. The company disclosed plans to create its own esports leagues and tournaments in collaboration with strategic partners in the future.
The joint venture between the ProSiebenSat1 subsidiary and eSports.com AG was first announced in December 2018. The eSports.com AG was involved in a few controversies. In 2018, eSports.com was accused of not paying its freelance contributors and previously appeared to misrepresent a relationship with ESL. Additionally, the company was criticized following an ICO in 2017 as the ICO funding site initially claimed that the $20M USD hard cap was reached at the end of the campaign, but the final total was later confirmed to be $5.8M; eSports.com blamed a display issue for the incorrect sum.
Currently, the company is reiterating the eSports.com platform by updating the platform’s tech, design, and logo. Additionally, 7Sports added an editorial offering in the form of gaming news on the platform.
